About this title: Frances Mayes, a gourmet cook, travel writer, and poet, bought herself a crumbling 17-room villa in the Italian countryside. It changed her life and renewed her spirit. Her immensely appealing chronicle of the experience, and of her romantic relationship with the man she eventually married, comes complete with recipes from the region. The book ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Chronicle Books
Date Published: 09/1996
ISBN-13:9780811808422ISBN:0811808424
Description: Very good in very good dust jacket. Very Good, In very good dust jacket. Sewn binding. Cloth over boards. With dust jacket. 280 p. read more
"Frances Mayes delivers for her readers an animated, lyrical, luscious memoir of her decision to purchase and renovate a house in Cortona, Italy.If you are at all interested in Italy or traveling this book will delight you and make you envious of the life she is carving out in Tuscany. Unfortunately, if you are looking for a gripping drama you will be quite bored with Mayes' descriptions of her meals, shopping excursions, home renovations and the visits to Etruscan tombs. I found myself wandering at certian points in the book as some of descriptions of the house renovations got just a little too wordy, but I was always pulled back into the story by another description of the townspeople, dinners at the town restaurants, churches or the surrounding towns. An enjoyable read, where Mayes creates a vivid imagery of the Italian countryside and beautiful prose that let's the reader into her most private thoughts."
"This is an inspirational book written by a woman who is going through a transition in her life. While visiting Tuscany, she decides to take a leap of faith and to begin a brand new life. Even though she can't afford the home which she wants to buy, the owner realizes that how much the author values the home and that it should be hers. Consequently the owner accepts the author's modest offer. That was spiritual! I especially appreciated this aspect since I am the author of a spiritually-themed book.
I have never visited Tuscany though Italy has remained one of the favorite countries which I have visited. After reading this book, I wanted to move to Tuscany. The writer has a gift for describing the countryside, the people, and the culture. She also has a wonderful gift for describing mouth-watering food. At points, the book reads as if it was a cookbook.
While it was interesting, the author's description of renovating her new home was a bit tedious. Even so, the book is a marvelous read. It was a delightful escape for me and the writing is very good. You will not be disappointed.
Davis Aujourd'hui, author of "The Misadventures of Sister Mary Olga Fortitude""
"" It's not fair that some people get to live like this!" she said, throwing the book down on her unwashed, non- authentic linoleum floor. " A wonderful companion that willing does chores, looks good without his shirt, never argues, likes to travel; cash to buy and then renovate a villa in Tuscany where you live every summer and at Christmas and bottle your own olive oil from your own trees; have tons of flowers, fruit trees and terraces with lounge chairs; find Etruscan stones in your back yard; have a fabulous job as the head of the Humanities department at a major University in San Francisco when you are not in Tuscany; interesting and famous literary friends; still look good in a sun dress and gladiator sandals; have a movie made about your life staring Diane Ladd (which is really nothing like the book, by the way); and speak Italian with a charming southern accent! It's not fair! It's not fair!" Later, that night, she crawled under the table and retrieved it, determined to try one of those recipes, included in the book, for Chicken with Chickpeas, Garlic, Tomatoes, and Thyme."
"Mayes is a beautiful writer. With imagery that plunks you right down in the middle of the Italian countryside, she takes the reader along on her journey to forge a new home in a foreign country. Her movements between her little apartment in San Francisco and her warm, sunny Tuscan villa, Bramasole, give the reader insight into a world where one woman lives in two very different worlds. I was very much a part of this story as I read it; I could almost feel the warm winds and smell the lavender in her backyard. Not only does Mayes introduce you slowly to her home, but she takes you on journeys around Italy with her family, while sharing recipes and Italian phrases.
If a reader picks up this book hoping it will reflect perfectly the movie based on it, they will be mistaken. The book is so much more than the movie. It's inspiring, it's lyrical, and it's worth it to enjoy every word that flows from Mayes' pen."
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